DBS Year ends on a high

The two time Bumper winner Double Expresso topped a day of spirited bidding at the DBS December Sales when selling to Howard Johnson for £87,000 on a day that returned a vibrant trade and generated a clearance rate of 63%, an average that increased by 69% to £8,893 and a median that increased by 60% to £3,200.

Trained by Oliver Sherwood and offered by his Rhonehurst Stables on behalf of Fawley House Stud, the five year old son of Kayf Tara is out of a half sister to the Grade 2 winning Bosun's Mate and was an eight length winner on his debut before he defied a penalty to win at Southwell since the publication of the catalogue. He attracted from interest from many of the leading trainers and agents including Tom Malone, Tessa Greatrex and Paul Webber but it was Aiden Murphy who made the biggest attempt to secure the exciting youngster before the hammer came down in favour of Johnson.

Double Expresso sold to Howard Johnson for £87,000

The next Lot also attracted the interest of Murphy who was more successful when securing Eastern Supreme for £52,000. Tom Malone was again bidding on the four year old son of Norwich, who is out of a full sister to the Grade 3 winning Saxaphone and won a Bumper at Market Rasen on his debut before finishing a close third under a penalty at Mussleburgh. He has been bought for Kim Bailey who will be launching a new syndicate that will also include Behindcloseddoors, who was bought by Murphy for £50,000. The three year old son of Tillerman was trained by Pam Sly to win a Junior Bumper at the end of November and attracted bids from Paul Webber and Richard Philips, who was standing with Graham Bradley, but it was Murphy who had the biggest budget for the three year old.

Fillies with residual value were also in demand and the Gay Kelleway trained Beat Seven realised the highest price when selling to Winterbeck Manor Stud for £46,000. The daughter of Beat Hollow was second in the Listed Keep Able Star Stakes at Sandown and fourth in the Group 1 Meon Valley Stud Mile as a two year old and attracted bids from Matt Coleman of Anthony Stroud Bloodstock before the Winterbeck Manor Stud representatives secured the filly.

Following the conclusion of the sale, DBS Managing Director Henry Beeby said:

'2009 has certainly been a real rollercoaster year in the bloodstock world but we have been delighted to see the pragmatic optimism that we urged last year really come to the fore over the last few months. The bloodstock community is an admirably resilient bunch and the confidence that has returned to the market is most encouraging.

The DBS year has been challenging in many areas but our results have been far from catastrophic. Our turnover is down but we must remember that DBS endured lesser falls than some in 2008 as our two biggest sales were held before the economic crisis that affected so many others whilst, in common with others, we have catalogued less horses this year which, in turn, has led to an improved clearance rate. We have enjoyed many highlights in 2009 amongst which are selling the world's highest priced National Hunt horse for the 9th consecutive year, a magnificent top price of £190,000 at the Breeze-Up Sales for the two year who raced so well as Angel's Pursuit and another spectacular year on the track for our graduates headed by 13 Group/Grade 1 winners and horses like St Leger Yearling Canford Cliffs, who we can't wait to see on the track next year.

Today's sale has ended the year on a high with figures up across the board reflecting a day of spirited bidding from a cosmopolitan crowd. Yet again we have proved that DBS achieve a premium for quality and this is something that we will look to build on next year whilst our results in January, where we returned an excellent foal trade when everyone thought the world was about to end, mean we are really looking forward to our January National Hunt Foal Sale as we have put together the best bunch of foals ever catalogued at DBS.

Difficult times? Undoubtedly, but we face the future with huge optimism as we feel a corner has been turned. We have a broad programme of sales that cater to every sector of the market, a young and hungry team, and a truly excellent sales complex from which to conduct our sales whilst we have taken strong action to counteract some of the unavoidable downturns that have resulted from the slow down.

As ever we are grateful to a wonderful group of clients, both buyers and sellers, who continue to put their trust in the DBS service and we send our heartfelt thanks to every one whether they have been involved in one horse or many.

2009 may not be remembered as our best year but we relish the challenges that 2010 will present.'

December Sales Comparative Figures

DBS Comparative Annual Figures

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